When 17-year-old Hugo Peel was asked at four days’ notice whether he wanted to play in a Senior Men’s World Championship, he admits that there was at first at least a moment’s hesitation.
“They called me on the Tuesday and I had to make a decision by Thursday before flying at the weekend,” Hugo recalls.
“I was really just planning on chilling out this summer and looking to get myself some money and find a job at a supermarket.”
But as has already become apparent, Hugo is not one to turn down an opportunity when it arises, and come the Saturday morning, Hugo was there at Manchester airport to travel with the squad across the Atlantic to San Diego.
The opportunity to join the squad presented itself at the eleventh hour after the unfortunate injury and withdrawal of another young talent in Dan Jones.
The late change of plans has meant Hugo has had to take a bit of flak from his college teachers at missing two weeks of classes but as he puts it – “it feels like a pretty good excuse.”
At 17, Hugo is one of the youngest players at the World Championship, the youngest playing in Pool A, and youngest ever for England at a World Championship.
Hugo’s story with the sport began back at the age of six years old and with a a Dad and Uncle who had played the game, it was a natural passage for him to take up the sport too.
Although firmly a Stockport boy now, his first taste of the game was at Poynton before soon moving up the road and moving through the junior programmes at Stockport, working with coaches like Simon Rowlinson, someone who he acknowledges with helping him to nail the fundamentals of the game and give him a solid platform throughout his junior career.
But as with most top athletes, lacrosse wasn’t Hugo’s only sporting passion and it was tennis that was his original number one.
Alongside also playing rugby and cricket, he played county level tennis for Cheshire, and it was only around 14 that lacrosse started to take priority.
And then only once the prospect of joining the England U21 programme, who were deep into their World Championship cycle in 2021, did Hugo make the decision to go all in on lacrosse.
“When I got into the 21s squad, I thought this is a big commitment and I need to go 100% in with it.
He also credits his time spent in lockdown as the catalyst for his rapid rise and development at such a young age in making that Under 21 team.
“I worked really hard – we had nothing to do, I thought I might as well work on my lacrosse.
“I played lacrosse every single day and just things eventually start to become more and more natural.”
And although Hugo’s game was improving at a rate of knots, there were some significant challenges along the way.
“When I originally got picked for the U21s at 15, I still wasn’t allowed to play any senior lacrosse – the only senior standard was 21s practice otherwise it was just junior lacrosse with Stockport U16s.
“When I first came into the squad, I remember the first official training session, I didn’t have a clue, I had no idea what was going on, everything was so fast, it was all a bit of a shock.”
The U21 World Championship proved to be a whirlwind experience which typified Hugo’s abilities to learn quickly and make the most of his experiences.
For the fact that he didn’t score in the first four games of the World Championship, but after scoring two in the team’s first win, against Israel, he then also netted in each of the next four games.
Hugo admitted, “In the pool games I was really nervous and even a bit like, I don’t really want to go on the pitch.
“But I told myself that you need to get this experience, you need to put yourself out there and once I scored against Israel I felt that, right, now I belong here.”
Following his emergence in Limerick with the U21s, his upwards trajectory didn’t stop there.
Time was then spent with the GB Lacrosse Sixes team, getting to grips with the new format and playing at the EuroLax Sixes where he returned with a haul of 17 goals and the competition victory.
“The GB setup was really fun and felt very professional,” Hugo said.
“Being with those guys who went to the World Games it gives you an idea of what playing at an Olympics could be like.”
And then finally came the beginning of the unexpected journey to the current World Championship.
Along with friend and player at Mellor George Shonfeld, they both decided to head to senior trials just to see what it was like and check out the experience.
He said, “I just thought I might as well try out because I’m not going to get on, but it will be a good experience.
“And then as each training session went on I kept turning up and each cut was made and I was still there.
“Then after Home Internationals and the final cut and I didn’t make it, I thought fair enough, I was expecting to have got cut a while back, but I’d enjoyed all the training opportunities up until then and was just taking it as a learning curve.”
Even then, Hugo was still catching the eye, playing against Hofstra in the pre-championship warm-up fixture and scoring a goal against the NCAA D1 opposition – A goal that may just have made up the mind of the coaches when looking to select Jones’ replacement.
A few weeks on and now he is here taking in every moment and fully enjoying being immersed in the experience.
“It’s been great, the guys have been really welcoming – I’ve not really felt out of place I’ve just been enjoying it all.
“I’ve actually not been that impressed with how I’ve played in a couple games, but I feel like I’m getting better as things go on and hope I continue that.”
One particular source of support for Hugo has been England captain, fellow Stockport player, and roommate Andrew Baxter.
Baxter made his own World Championship debut when Hugo was just five years old and as he appears at his fourth tournament, he has proven somewhat of mentor figure to him on dealing with the tournament.
“He’s my roommate here and I always take the time to listen to him and what he says - he’s done this four times now so what he says – it’s probably right!”
As is tradition, as the youngest squad member Hugo has led the team out onto the pitch and at the opening ceremony carrying the England flag aloft to the crowds.
“It’s pretty cool to do it and it does help to kick the adrenaline in – though I do keep forgetting it at the end of the games!”
But for a man so young, a potential exciting future is already starting to be mapped out on the horizon.
Peel, who will still only be 19 by the time the next U20 World Championship comes around in 2025, is already trying to plot out a university lacrosse career that he hopes will bring him back across the pond sometime soon.
“I’m looking to get to play in the States, so going to play out in an another U20s would be a good help in trying to get spotted.
“I’m not exactly sure what path I want to take yet, maybe looking at first heading to an English university for the experience of that and then heading to the states after.
He cites the experiences that players such as fellow England and GB players Tim Collins and Alex Russell got in heading overseas, and development that had on their game, particularly as players that he looks up to playing in a similar role as himself.
Another thing in the not-so-distant future that has been big talk in San Diego has been a potential 2028 Olympics berth for lacrosse.
In five years’ time at 22 and with five more years of senior experience under his belt, Hugo could well be in prime contention for a place on a GB team playing just upstate at LA 2028.
But for now, out in San Diego, we are continuing to witness the emergence of a unique talent that possesses the skill and desire to go to the very top, demonstrated just yesterday by his first Championship goal in the quarter final with Australia.
As the old saying goes, ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’.
